Aside from music and vinyl, baseball is my next biggest passion so it's a thrill this week to welcome former Milwaukee Brewers and current Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play radio announcer Joe Block to the show! Today, we discuss record stores he remembers in his native Detroit growing up, how collecting vinyl is not unlike having baseball cards as a kid, his love for Motown and hip-hop over the years, working with "Mr. Baseball" himself Bob Uecker during Joe's tenure in Milwaukee, life on the road during the 162-game season, who gets him starstruck, what cities might be due for an MLB expansion team, and much more! Be sure to follow Joe on Twitter @joe_block, and follow the show @VinylEmergency on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Music discussion and vinyl news podcast Sharing Needles With Friends has been both a favorite of mine for years as well as an inspiration for me to start Vinyl Emergency. Based out of Knoxville, TN and fueled by the nearly 20-year camaraderie of hosts Derek Jones and Gene Priest, SNWF is an always informative and hilarious listen, whether they're talking about their own record collections, what excites them about upcoming releases, or divisive topics, like whatever Kanye West is up to that particular week. Derek and Gene were kind enough to air this interview as their own SNWF episode a few weeks ago as a showing of solidarity and cross-promotion, but if you're brand new to SNWF, buckle up for a really fun episode! We also revisit our new segment Where's The Wax?, by bringing 15 more albums to the table that need a vinyl pressing.

In 2015, Chicago-based company Gramovox launched a Kickstarter campaign for their gorgeous Floating Record Vertical Turntable. With over $1 million in backing and now almost a year to the date of their Kickstarter launch, Gramovox is still turning heads in both the vinyl/audio realm as well as the tech world, with both the Vertical Turntable and their Bluetooth Gramophone, as they strive to meld sleek, old-fashioned design with today's technology. I recently sat down with CEO/Co-Founder Pavan Bapu, Media Production Manager Jack Pochop and Customer Service Specialist Lewis McKinney to talk about Gramovox's early days, how the turntable itself works, what questions they hear from lifelong vinyl collectors and those buying their first turntable, how social media -- and #NowFloating -- plays a huge role in sharing their products, and of course, what their first ever album purchases were.

Visit Gramovox.com and follow them @Gramovox on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow this program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @vinylemergency, and write me at vinylemergency@gmail.com with any feedback!

Matt Shiverdecker -- member of the Austin Film Critics Association and former music director/on-air host of WOXY -- joins me this week to discuss his record collection, how vinyl bootleggers are making a killing off of today's major hip-hop artists, the many phases of WOXY over the years, how Nielsen ratings currently work for radio, the struggles of music programming immediately after September 11th (when certain songs were under scrutiny due to their titles, subject matter or band names), how crazy it gets in Austin during SXSW and much more! We also debut a new Vinyl Emergency segment -- Where's The Wax? -- where we bring ten albums to the table that aren't currently on vinyl, discuss why they likely haven't been pressed and why we need them! Follow Matt on Twitter @shivvy and on Instagram at @mattshiv.